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Christine Itwaru is a longtime product operations leader at Pendo and more recently has taken on the larger role of Principal Strategist there. Before leading product ops, Christine spent 12 years in product management. In this episode, we delve into the rapidly growing field of product ops and discover how Christine is part of shaping the role industry-wide. She helps us define the role of product operations, what kind of person would be a good fit for the product ops role, when your company would benefit from product ops, and what red flags to look for if you decide to go down this path.\xa0

Find the full transcript here: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/understanding-the-role-of-product-ops-christine-itwaru-pendo/#transcript

Where to find Christine Itwaru:

\u2022 Twitter: https://twitter.com/christineitwaru

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christineitwaru/

\u2022 Website: https://theproductheart.com/

Where to find Lenny:

\u2022 Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

\u2022 Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

Referenced:

\u2022 Ben Williams on Lenny\u2019s Podcast: https://www.podpage.com/lennys-podcast/how-snyk-built-a-product-led-growth-juggernaut-ben-williams-vp-of-product-at-snyk/

\u2022 Pendo: https://go.pendo.io/

\u2022 Marty Cagan on Lenny\u2019s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-nature-of-product-marty-cagan-silicon-valley-product-group/

\u2022 Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/

\u2022 Looker: https://www.looker.com/

\u2022 Tray: https://tray.io/

\u2022 Zapier: https://zapier.com/

\u2022 Zendesk: https://www.zendesk.com/

\u2022 Casey Winters on Lenny\u2019s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company-casey-winters-eventbrite/

\u2022 Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love: https://www.amazon.com/INSPIRED-Create-Tech-Products-Customers/dp/1119387507/

\u2022 Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don\u2019t: https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/1591848016/

\u2022 The Product-Led Organization: Drive Growth by Putting Product at the Center of Your Customer Experience: https://www.amazon.com/Product-Led-Organization-Putting-Customer-Experience/dp/1119660874

\u2022 Product Roadmaps Relaunched: How to Set Direction while Embracing Uncertainty: https://www.amazon.com/Product-Roadmaps-Relaunched-Direction-Uncertainty/dp/149197172X/

\u2022 The Product Experience podcast: https://www.mindtheproduct.com/the-product-experience/

\u2022 Matilda the Musical: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3447590/

\u2022 Rise on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/rise/6Yv1uRnw2uAJ

\u2022 Miro: https://miro.com/

\u2022 Figma: https://www.figma.com/

\u2022 Seismic: https://seismic.com/

\u2022 Gong: https://www.gong.io/

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Christine\u2019s background

(02:34) How working with Ben Williams led Christine to Lenny\u2019s Podcast

(05:02) The role of product ops in product management

(07:31) How 2019 became \u201cthe summer of product ops\u201d

(11:19) The different ways product ops can assist product teams

(15:50) How Pendo used product ops to bring teams together and share data

(18:15) Where user research fits in\xa0

(22:39) How product ops are being utilized\u2014and not exclusively in B2B companies

(24:47) How to convince a product leader that you need product ops

(27:41) Why customer experience is the core of a PM\u2019s role

(29:47) Who is doing the work of the product ops person before that role is created

(31:37) Christine\u2019s response to Casey Winters\u2019s take on ops teams

(37:40) Signs your company could benefit from a product ops team

(30:56) How a lack of transparency led to Pendo adding product ops

(46:11) The line between product ops and product marketing

(47:30) Who might be a good fit for a product ops role

(53:39) Red flags for product ops roles (that apply to any role)\xa0

(54:08) How product teams are structured at Pendo

(57:18) Lightning round

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.